Accessing crashsafari.com Causes iPhones to Reboot

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Mac and iPhone users are not exempt from the occasional pranksters, who now happen to be targeting Apple products in full force. Accessing crashsafari.com causes iPhones to reboot, and users reported having received links that direct them to this prank site.

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The problematic website contains a line of code that fills the address bar with a never-ending string of characters. As the number of characters keeps on growing, the browser will eventually crash trying to load the page.

If you access the prank site on an iPhone or iPad, they will heat up trying to react to the code, which eventually leads to a reboot due to exhaustion. Approximately 20 seconds after the site is opened, the device will reboot. On Mac, the prank crashes only Safari without issuing an automatic reboot.

Chrome users on PCs, Android and Macs are also affected if they access the prank site, because those devices will be significantly slower. Since Chrome cannot ever load the code, users will be forced to issue a manual reboot for the code to stop.

Something similar has already affected iPhone users last May, as a text message bug was either blocking users from opening the Messaging app or completely crashing the phone. The only difference is that the issue back then was cause by a particular string of characters caused, not by a website link.

There is a way to protect your Apple device from this, right? Unfortunately, simply making sure you’re not clicking on a crashsafari.com link doesn’t do the trick, because pranksters can use URL shorteners to disguise the link, so you won’t know what hit you until it’s too late.

The next best thing is to avoid clicking on any links you receive from people you don’t know, especially if they are shortened. Also, use some smart common sense: if someone you don’t follow on Twitter mentions you need to check out a link out, it’s probably safe that you don’t.

Keep in mind that these links can get to you from literally anywhere on this wide web – either through an iMessage, an email, or anywhere on social media. If you do end up at crashsafari.com, just reboot right away – there’s nothing else you can do.

The good news about this prank is that there’s no apparent harm to it; nothing malicious has been reported so far. Your iPhone or iPad simply reboots and then goes back to normal but it’s probably safe that you don’t play with fire.Image Source: How To Geek

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About David Mayor

Writer and editor of The Next Digit Media, he takes care of iOS, Apple, Mac and other gadgets. He worked at Apple Inc, before joining to TND Media. He was graduated in Bachelor of Journalism & Mass Communication Degree from Cambridge University. All posts by David